There are many triumphant musical arrangements – Bach translating Vivaldi from violins to harpsichords, Ravel orchestrating Mussorgsky, Liszt’s treatment of Paganini Caprices. In each of these cases the new clothes perfectly suit the old body while giving it a different, novel aspect. However, I can’t place these quartet arrangements among such illuminating examples. William Zinn hovers between providing an accompaniment for the original piece (Caprice No 1), recasting the original notes, with a few additions, as a string quartet (successfully accomplished in No 15), and attempting to devise a caprice in which all four instruments are heard as virtuosos. Such stylistic uncertainty is probably unavoidable but I find in many places that the appeal of the original has vanished without anything comparable replacing it. Paganini’s bass-lines are often powerfully directional; by adding a different bass below the original, Zinn weakens the effect of the harmony. And sometimes he simply chooses the wrong chord – suggesting, for instance, in the minore of No 22, a modulation that forms no part of Paganini’s scheme – or uses a harmonic style that’s quite anachronistic (at the start of No 20). In all his works, Paganini favours clear, spacious sonorities; here, chords are often scored so as to produce textures of Straussian opulence, especially damaging in those pieces (Nos 6 and 12) where Paganini’s virtuosity produces delicate, evocative effects.

The Wihan Quartet play their taxing parts with confidence and brilliance but a smoother, less accented style might have helped the sometimes congested textures to sound more appealing. You may feel differently but I’m happy to stick to solo violin.